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When we step on JetBlue flight 1172 tomorrow morning, we will enter our 7th mode of transportation in less than 24 hours. Maybe this is an interesting way to debrief a one day tour of the largest city in the country.
1. Subway
My first choice for transportation in New York, it is dependable, quick, and always available no matter where you go (in Manhatten, at least). We bought two $10 Metrocards yesterday on our first ride to the hotel, and we used all but about $1.70 of it. Travelling during the day, the trains are generally well populated enough that we don't have to worry about the crazies, and after about 9 am, there are usually plenty of empty seats available. Unfortunately, the downside is that, as mentioned on our trip yesterday, they are not exactly easy to navigate with a stroller. So today, we decided to leave it at the hotel and go by foot, which turned out to be an excellent decision. Speaking of feet...
2. Walking
Yes, we did walk quite a bit, but not nearly as much as in other cities, mostly because we were able to use subways to get between major centers.
Most of our walking was between Times Square and Rockefeller Center, which is all of 0.7 miles each way.
In Times Square, we bounced between the three story Toys R Us, the various over the top McDonald's, the rather lame (due to construction) Disney Store, and M&M World, which are all within a block of each other. Around Rockefeller Center, we had to visit the American Girl store as we are on a quest to visit every one in the country, and the NBC store, as most of our favorite shows are on NBC.
The only other walking trek was around Wall St, where we visited the (under construction) World Trade Center site and found an awesome hole-in-the-wall NY-style pizza pie restaurant called The Grotto. For the five of us, we got a cheese pizza with slices so large you couldn't even fold them, and marinara sauce that still lingers in my mind. Best meal under $15 we've found so far.
3. Ferry
We promised Grace that we would see Lady Liberty after reading about it in her US Atlas on the bus ride yesterday. Checking their web site, we found that there were no available tickets
to visit the inside of the pedestal, and tickets to just get on the island were fairly pricey. So, we decided to take the Staten Island passenger ferry, which just happens to pass right by the Lady on it's way to the island, and then return on the next ferry. This turned out to be a great way to see the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and teach the girls a little more about the passing barges, tugboats, and buoys. It was also very relaxing and relatively calm because we left right at the end of the morning rush traffic.
4. Train (regional rail)
In order to get to the Crowne Plaza near Newark airport, we took a short train ride out of Penn Station to the airport. Nothing special, really, other than it was really crowded, rather expensive at $12.50/person, and the kids were getting a little hyper in order to keep themselves from crashing. The train dropped us off at the...
5. Monorail (Skytrain)
A typical completely automated airport skytrain system. The cars were small and the kids were still hyper, so it was loud. One stop later, we found ourselves at the curb waiting
for the...
6. Van/Auto (Hotel airport shuttle)
After calling ahead and being assured that the driver was within 10 minutes, we still waiting at the pick-up area for much longer than this. In fact, I was able to identify other hotel shuttles before their lettering/logos were visible because we saw them so many times.
7. Plane (as planned)
This will actually be my first non-Southwest trip in about 10 years. In fact, it was kind of weird to pick a seat when reserving the flight. This was a $9/person fare (about $20 after taxes/fees) that I found just before leaving and will get us to Boston for the remaining week of our trip. As an added bonus, JetBlue should have Direct TV available which will give the kids something to watch on the 75 minute flight. I'm sure Grace will end up watching the Food Network, as she has been hooked on it this entire trip.
-Jason
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